Ali Ahmed Fazeel

Ali Ahmed Fazeel
Born	September 5, 1922(1922-09-05) Fatehgarh in Uttar Pradesh, India
Died	October 22, 2002(2002-10-22) (aged 80) Karachi, Pakistan
Education	Aligarh University
Occupation	Lawyer
Title	Attorney General of Pakistan
Term	Oct 30 1986 - May 30th, 1988
Predecessor	Aziz A Munshi
Successor	Aziz A Munshi
Religion	Islam

Ali Ahmed Fazeel (Urdu: علی احمد فضیل) (b. Fatehgarh in Uttar Pradesh, India on September 5, 1922; died October 22, 2002) was a Pakistani Attorney General.

Early life

Mr Fazeel was born to a lawyer. He followed his father's footsteps and attended Aligarh University in the early 1940s. He excelled in school. He passed his MsC (Masters in Science - Major: Geography)in First Division. It was in LLB that he had the honor of standing on top of his class of 1945 at AliGarh. The same year, he was the recipient of the Abdul Karim Khan University Medal from Aligarh University. At Aligarh, he was tutored by the eminent Sir Dr. Ziaduddin, namesake of Dr Ziauddin Hospital in Karachi. In the meantime, the Pakistan movement was gaining momentum, he became the Secretary-General of All India Muslim League Students Federation. He worked alongside Liaqat Ali Khan and Jinnah. Upon graduation, he started his law practice in Fatehgarh. Here, he was appointed Joint Secretary of All India Musliam League for Fatehgarh. Pakistan was born in August 1947, and Mr Fazeel moved to Karachi, Pakistan's capital city. There, he became Joint Secretary for Karachi Muslim League and Zonal Secretary for the Zonal Muslim League.

Career in Pakistan

Being a professional lawyer, Fazeel set up his law offices, "Fazeel & Co." in Karachi's Jehangir Kothari building. Later on, he would set up offices at Mohammadi House, located at Karachi's I.I Chundrigarh Rd. Liaqat Ali Khan, was assassinated in mysterious circumstances in 1951. Heartbroken at his mentor's murder, Mr Fazeel quit active politics.

In the early phase of his career, Mr Fazeel temporarily acted as the Special Public Prosecutor. He was twice elected as President Sindh High Court Bar Association. He was Joint Editor of Pakistan Law Report and Editor for Weekly Progress. Abroad, he represented Pakistan at the Indian Science Congress in Nagpur. He acted as Custodian Karachi University. He was the Special Advisor to the Department that overlooked the disposition of properties for migrants and emigrants after the Partition. He assisted the Sindh High Court in the case concerning the resolution of Jinnah's estate after his death. He was appointed to the faculty at the SM Law College on Jan 8th, 1956.

Mr Fazeel reached the pinnacle of his career amongst Pakistani lawyers in the 1980s. He was counted amongst Pakistan's most eminent lawyers that included Khalid Ishaq, S M Zafar and Sharifuddin Pirzada. He was a member of the Karachi University Syndicate, Univeresity Grants Commission and the Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council and hosted the All Pakistan Jurist Conference. He also represented his country in International conferences in Australia, Austria and the UK. During this period, he litigated for both sides in important political cases that included Air Marshal Asghar Khan, Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, Nawab Akbar Bugti, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Benazir Bhutto, Haji Saifullah and Ghous Ali Shah. On the corporate side, he appeared in some of the most important business litigations of the 80s and 90s concerning Byram Avari, Pakistan Burmah Shell, Jahangir Siddiqui & Co., Tibet Group, Amin Lakhani, Sultan Lakhani, Asharfi Brand Atta, Akbar Hashwani, Shahzada Citizen Watches, Bishop Lobo vs Cowasjee etc. In 1985, Muhammad Khan Junejo (then Prime Minister of Pakistan) dismissed the Attorney General A. K. Munshi and offered Mr Fazeel to join his government as the chief law officer of the state. A few years later, Zia ul Haq, the military President in uniform dismissed Junejo due to political rivalry in May 1988. ul Haq wanted to retain Fazeel and offered him a place in his Zia's Majlis Shoora (the General's version of a technocrat advisory body. However, Fazeel chose to resign. He would often remark to his friends: "The Attorney General comes with the Prime Minister and goes with the Prime Minister." Consequently, he was named amongst Pakistan's 100 most influential citizens in a book published in 1989.

Junejo Case

Following the dismissal of the Junejo government, Fazeel was retained by the Former Prime Minister, to contest the dismissal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The Supreme Court invalidated Zia's action terming it illegal. However, it allowed the Federation of Pakistan to continue with the announced dates of general elections in Pakistan.

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF PIL (Public Interest Litigation) IN PAKISTAN

The seeds of PIL were planted in Pakistan in the mid to late-1980s by such luminaries of the legal fraternity as, inter alia, Chief Justices Muhammad Haleem and Nasim Hasan Shah and former Attorney General Ali Ahmad Fazeel. In the wake of a newly reintroduced Constitution,elements within judicial circles began to debate the question of how the fundamental rights enshrined therein could be effectively enforced by a population which was (and is) largely ignorant or unaware of their rights. Part of the answer to this question was identified by Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem as a “massification” of society; where citizens were “increasingly drawn together” on the basis of rights and interests. Former Attorney General Ali Ahmad Fazeel and Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasim Hasan Shah also recognized the phenomenon of “massification” and, carrying the principle to its logical conclusion, were able to formulate more concrete answers to the question: That the enforcement of the rights of groups of people could be achieved if the law recognized the enforcement of rights beyond the concept of the aggrieved person; that justice for all could be served if the rights of groups of people could be enforced.

References

• Ali Kazi, Mushtak (1990) Journey Through Judiciary. Royal Book Co. ISBN 978-9694071084
• MR. AHMED RAFAY ALAM, ADVOCATE, SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN: PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION AND THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY

Political offices
Preceded by Aziz A Munshi	Attorney General of Pakistan October 1986 - May 1988	Succeeded by Yahya Bakhtiar